YaBB is one of the world's leading providers of free, Perl-based message board systems for webmasters. Our innovative system allows people to get and stay connected it an easy to use, easy to understand format. Come see what hundreds of thousands of webmasters and millions of registered users already know!

This help section will get you up to speed on the functions of this YaBB forum. Inside, you will learn how to register an account, login, edit your profile, post a message, and much more. If you would like to skip ahead to a section, please use the menu to the left.

Since this forum is powered by YaBB, registering an account is so simple, you'll be chatting in no time!

Step 1: In the menu above, you will see items titled "Home", "Help", "Login", "Register", etc. Click on "Register".

Step 2: On this new page, you will see a form where you can choose your username and password (if the administrator allows) and enter you email address. Fill in the boxes with your information.

Step 3: Check the box to agree to the User Agreement.

Step 4: Click on the "Register" button at the bottom of the page.

That's it! The administrator may require you to validate your account before you can post. If this is the case, an email will be sent to you containg your password. Now you"re ready to log in and post!

Step 1: In the menu above, you will see items titled "Home, "Help", "Login", "Register", etc. Click on "Login".

Step 2: On this new page, you will see several options.

Username - Enter in the name you registered with.

Password - Type in your password.

Logged in For - Choose how long you would like to stay logged in for.

Forgot Password - If you can't remember your password, click this button to have it resent. (Full directions below.)

Step 3 Once you have everything filled out, click the button in the form titled "Login".

Congratulations! You are now ready to participate in this community! Note, if you do not see the "Login" button in the menu, you may already be logged in. This can happen on some boards set up for instant registration.

When you are done posting, it is a good idea to log out of your account so others using your computer will not have access to your information. To do this, find the menu item titled "Logout". Once you click this button, YaBB will log you out of the forum. You must log in again if you wish to post or access member-only functions.^

Forgotten Password

If you have forgotten your password, YaBB can resend it to the email account your registered your account with.

Step 1 In the menu above, you will see items titled "Home", "Login", "Register", etc. Click on "Login".

Step 2 On this new page, you will see a button titled "Forgot Password". Click this button.

Step 3 A new page will load with a single box. Enter your username or the email address you registered with.

YaBB allows you to fill out a profile which tells people about you. You can have your name, age, instant messenger information, personal avatar (picture), and more!

Step 1: To change your profile, click the "Profile" option in the forum menu above. This will bring you to the View Profile page.

Step 2: On your View Profile page, you will see a special link titled "Modify". Click this link.

Step 3: For security reasons, you will then be asked to enter your password. Do so, then click "Confirm Password".

You now have access to all of your account settings and options for this YaBB, divided into four sections: Edit Profile, Contact Information, Options and PM Preferences. For details on each of this, please read on below.

The Edit Profile section gives you quick access to your basic profile settings for you account on this YaBB forum.

PasswordIf you wish to change your password, you may do so by filling in this box. It is highly recommended that your password be at least 6 characters and use a combination of letters and numbers.

Verify Password In order to change your password, YaBB needs to know that you'll remember it. You can do this by entering your new password again in this box.

NameThis is your Display Name. This is the name everyone will see throughout this YaBB forum. Most forum systems display the username you login with, but this is not the case with YaBB!

GenderOptional. If you want others to know your gender, you may pick "male" or "female" from this drop-down box. Keep in mind that this forum may have boards with access only allowed to certain genders.

BirthdayOptional. If you would like others to see how old you are and have a special icon in your profile on your birthday, please enter it in DD (day), MM (month), YYYY (year) format.

LocationOptional. Filling in this box will display where you live, where your from or anything else you choose.

The third section of your YaBB profile allows you to edit forum settings that relate to your account.

Personalized PictureYaBB allows you to define a small picture (called an avatar) that will display under your name next to your posts. This forum has a number of avatars already installed, and you may pick one from the list. If you have your own avatar, please see the option below.

I have my own picIf you have your own avatar and would like to use it on this YaBB, you may enter the URL here.

Personal TextThis is a small line of text that will display under your avatar.

SignatureYour signature is displayed at the bottom of every post you make and in your profile.

Preset Time FormatThis option allows you to change how the dates and time are presented to you throughout this YaBB community.

Custom Time FormatYou may also create a custom time format using the special codes here.

Time OffsetSince your time may be different from the server, you can enter your correct time zone to adjust it correctly.

TemplateIf the webmaster of this YaBB forum has other templates installed, you may choose one from this box.

LanguageHere you can select your native language to view this community in if it is available.

After you have registered an account, you will have the ability to start new topics. To do so, navigate to a category you would like to begin a conversation in. Make sure that this is the correct category for the subject of your post. Once you're inside this category, search for a link or button titled "Start New Topic" and click it. The exact location of this button will vary depending on which template is being used, but it is often near the top of the list of topics.

This will present you with a new page where you can begin to type your post. Below you will find a description of the items on this page.

Subject: This is the title of your topic and is what will be shown on the category page.

Message Icon: If you would like to add a special icon to your post, you may choose one from this list.

Add YaBBC tags: YaBBC tags give you the ability to format the text in your post. To add, simply click on the button of your choice. See below for a complete reference.

Add Smileys: Personalize your post by adding an emoticon, or smiley. Just click on the one you want and YaBB will automatically put it in your post.

Attach: If the Administrator allows, you may be able to add a file to your post by clicking on the "Browse" button to find the file on your hard drive to upload. Pay attention to the allowed file types and maximum file size.

Post/Preview/Reset: These three buttons do exactly what you would expect. Press the "Post" button if you're ready for the community to view your message, press "Preview" if you would like to see what your post will look like first or press "Reset" to clear all of the boxes and start again.

In addition to posting new topics, you can also reply to existing posts or topics quickly and easily. When you find a topic you would like to comment on, look for the button or link titled "Reply" or "Quote". Using "Reply" will take you to a post page much like the one described above. Quote does exactly he same thing, however, it will add what another user has said to your post in a special box like you see below.

If you have a question you would like to ask this community, YaBB gives you the ability to create a poll along with your topic. This is a fantastic way to get a good idea of what this community feels about your question. To post a poll, find the button titled "Start New Poll" from the category view and click it. The exact location of this button will vary depending on which template is being used, but it is often near the top of the list of topics. On this special post page, type in your question and options in the respectively labeled box, then fill out your message as described above.^

YaBBC Reference

For security reasons standard HTML code cannot be used in posts. Instead YaBB allows the use of YaBBC (YaBB Code) for formatting. YaBBC is similar to HTML, but safe and standardized for bulletin board use. To use, you can either click on the YaBBC button of your choice on all post pages or manually type them in. Below is a listing of each tag and it's function.

What is YaBBC?

YaBBC is a set of tags based on the HTML language. It allow you to add formatting to your messages in the same way as HTML does, but have a simpler syntax and will never break the layout of the pages you are viewing.
Most YaBBC tags can be wrapped around text, by first highlighting the text, and then clicking on the YaBBC button with the desired formatting.

The [link] YaBBC tags work in the same manner as the [url] tags, with the exception that the [link] tag (there is no insertion button for this tag) will open the clicked link in the present window, whereas the [url] tag opens the clicked link in a new window.

YaBB is about community and communication. And there are plenty of ways to communicate: Posting on the boards, Personal Messaging, E-mail, ICQ, AIM, YIM, MSN, and Gtalk. Of course, all methods of communication are only available to members. An exception is when the Forum Staff decides to allow guests to post on the boards: in this case all unregistered users are NOT allowed to do is viewing the Member List and sending Personal Messages to members.

While e-mail is a good way to correspond privately with members, it has several drawbacks: You must open your e-mail application to write and send the message; the recipient must open his/her e-mail application; check his/her mail and your message will mixed in with all the other mail and it can take sometimes several minutes to an hour for mail to reach the recipient.

As an alternative to e-mail, YaBB offers a faster, more private method. Personal Messaging on the forum provides instantaneous delivery to the recipient's private mailbox. The mail is sent and received entirely through YaBB, so neither you nor the recipient have to open another program or leave YaBB. Personal Messaging also gives both the sender and recipient greater privacy: no one's real e-mail address is revealed. Personal Messages show only the username and name of both parties.

If a recipient isn't online, Personal Messages wait in the member's PM box until the next time he/she logs in and manually reads and/or deletes them. YaBB Personal Messages is basically a self-contained, highly private e-mail system.